August
Theme: Membership and Extension Month
Lookout
Reserve Roster: TBA
Attendees:
Prospective new member:
Gary O’Donnell
Guest Speaker:
Alan Roberts
Report of Meeting: 15.08.17
Vocational: Replies
being sought re attendance at our upcoming visit to Driftwood Café.
Community:
Sept 10 - revegetation project at O Grove lookout. Noel Emselle is seeking
Volunteers - general maintenance work, Afternoon Tea, BBQ.
Foundation:
Those interested in doing as Centurions, please see Rod Greer a.s.a.p.
Treasurer:
Some members yet to may annual fees. Cutoff date approaching. Special thanks to
Alex for paying twice :-) Reminder that a ‘Request for Payment’ forms must be
completed for each invoice that is submitted for payment.
Market:
New signs have been displayed; we have approx. 30 bookings so far for the first
market in October.
Footy
tipping: End of season approaching, Gill Morgan, Bill
Walton and Geoff Ford are in the lead.
GDFL Footy gates:
we have sufficient numbers for the first 3 weeks, but are short for the last
one. Please contact Peter Cullen if you are able to help.
Guest
Speaker: Alan Roberts - retired Police
office - “Australia’s Worst Arsonist”
Alan started by making a distinction between Arson (burning other
people’s property) and Pyromania (uncontrollable urge to set fires). When both
are in evidence, there is a major problem!
Alan’s talk focused around a period in the 1990’s when Melbourne
was suffering a spate of what appeared to be deliberately lit fires. It had
reached such a stage, that a decision was made to have a uniformed patrolman
walk through metropolitan schools every night, in an attempt to make the
culprit less likely to burn them down - it didn’t work. Over a period of 3
years, there was an amazing 3 fires per week (Schools, churches, factories,
Presbyteries etc) being lit - most being destroyed in the process.
Alan was given the job of finding the culprit and so started an
incredible story of how he went about it. He concentrated on the last 2 fires
(lit in Sunshine). With a combination of hard work (door to door checking) and
good use of the local paper media and the identikit system, he was able to
track down and bring in a likely suspect in a matter of weeks.
The culprit initially denied any involvement, but when confronted
with a Priest to view the suspect lineup, he confessed immediately saying he
‘couldn’t lie to a Priest’. He was committed, found guilty and sentenced to 104
years in prison - accumulated for his incredible list of offences.
The positive from the event was that Alan Roberts gained a
promotion for his excellent work!
Thank you,
RB
